Site and Fiction

Our expectations of reality are mediated by representations of things to the degree that we increasingly measure our lived realities against edited ones instead of the other way around. This workshop asks how architects and designers might deploy fiction as a tool to prototype proposals for and responses to rapidly shifting and imminent futures. 

Working in small groups (3-5 people) participants will create short yet fantastical time-based vignettes that respond to a site in Moscow. In producing these scenes groups will:

• Shoot and document a site in an urban environment

• Design, describe and render fictional and fantastical responses to the site

• Storyboard, script, edit a cinematic artwork.

The workshop aims to develop participants’ skills in digital cinematography (camera setup, composition, media management for production), 2D and 3D compositing (using Adobe After Effects and Cinema4D) and editing (using Adobe Premiere). Participants will learn techniques for reading and documenting a site, sequencing information within an edit, designing compelling visual compositions, and using analogy and myth making to question contemporary problematics. As a result of the workshop each group will produce a one-minute cinematic speculation. 

Nathan Su is an architectural investigator, speculative designer and film-maker. He is a project coordinator at Forensic Architecture, where he uses projection mapping and motion tracking to situate image based evidence in animated 3D models. Nathan is teaching at the Architectural Association in London as well as runs workshops on 3D animation at the Bartlett, University College, London, and Strelka Institute. Nathan is a co-founder of Inferstudio – a speculative design practice that uses storytelling to critique the emerging technologies and cultures of cities.

Yulia Gromova is a multimedia journalist and The New Normal alumna. She regularly contributes on the topics of art and technology in Strelka Mag. Yulia had previously worked as a photo editor and producer for Numéro Russia Magazine and interned at Dazed and Confused Magazine in London. Her photographic project about Christian Communities in Jerusalem has won Sunday Times Emerging Talent contest in 2012 and was published online. 

The workshop should be considered an opportunity to prototype ideas on the future of space whilst also being an opportunity to learn technical skills. The workshop will begin with a lecture about basic workflows and software, whilst also initiating discussion on the relevance of fiction for design practice. On the second day participants will collaboratively work on their cinematic projects and will have the chance to investigate specific production techniques relevant to their idea through tailored tutorials. 

Please make sure you bring a laptop with Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop and Cinema4D R20 installed. You will need to prepare by completing a set of tutorials to be sent with the extended brief a week before the course. 

Participants should have  strong interests in city futures, media, technology and storytelling. No prior experience with software is necessary but if participants have done video editing or 3D modelling (particularly in After Effects, Premiere or Cinema4D) this will be advantageous. 

The workshop will be held in English. Please note that translation will not be provided.

This workshop is part of a 4-workshop series based on the experience within The New Normal speculative design programme and think-tank. Each of the workshops introduces participants to new ideas, concepts and skills and provides a glimpse into The New Normal and education at Strelka. The workshops will range from a theoretical seminar to film & fiction, VR and a speculative design charrette. 

Participants of three workshops will have a discount price of 6000rub for all, and 8000rub if you choose to participate in all 4 workshops. 

Apply before July 23. Please note that the number of participants is limited. Contact Strelka’s producer Artur Safonov at safonov@strelkainstitute.com if you have any questions.